Missing Children Sage and Isaac Cook Recovered Safely in Mexico, Returned to Family in Washington

Missing Children Sage and Isaac Cook Recovered Safely in Mexico, Returned to Family in Washington

The search for missing brothers Sage Cook, 15, and Isaac Cook, 9, has ended. Authorities located them in safe condition in Mexico’s Sinaloa state. This evening, they returned to Washington with their father, David Cook, and stepmother, Helen Cook, after being reunited in Mexico earlier today.

The FBI worked with local, state, federal, and international partners to locate Sage and Isaac, who live in Bellevue, Washington, with their father, who has legal custody.

A felony warrant for custodial interference was issued by the King County Superior Court in Washington, on September 3, 2015, for Faye Hsin-I Ku, 41, the mother of Isaac and Sage. A federal arrest warrant was issued on January 19, 2016, by the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, after Ku was charged with international parental kidnapping. An additional federal complaint and arrest warrant were issued on February 12, 2016, by the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Investigators developed information to suggest that Ku crossed the border illegally from San Diego to Tijuana with the three children on August 29, 2015. The FBI’s Legal Attaché (Legat) office in Mexico City pursued a series of leads to identify their location and passed information to Mexican officials, who took prompt action, assuring the safety of the children.

The FBI’s Seattle Division and Legat Mexico City coordinated the deportation of Ku with the Mexican authorities. This evening, National Institute of Migration (INM) officers accompanied Ku to Los Angeles International Airport where she was taken into federal custody. Her initial appearance in U.S. District Court is anticipated for Tuesday, February 16, 2016, in the Central District of California, in Los Angeles.

This six-month international kidnapping investigation by the FBI’s Seattle Division comes to a positive conclusion due to the efforts made by and extraordinary partnerships with Legat Mexico City, INM, the FBI’s Los Angeles Division. The FBI’s Seattle Division also worked closely with the Bellevue Police Department and the Lakewood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—who both initiated the investigation—and with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington and the King County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California